Don't let go
by sarbey
Summary: Sequel to Cold. Yes I did one. Hameron


A/N This is a sequel to Cold. I originally wanted to post it as a second chapter but I thought the other story worked so well as oneshot that I decided on making it a sequel instead so if you want to know what happened to Cameron, read Cold first. I'm not sure if there's still more to come. For the moment this is finished but you never know when the muse hits you over the head and forces you to write again. Oh and I finally got that review thingy working so you should get actual replies this time.

Hope you like it.

* * *

He watched them through the glass, wrapped up in their own world; both of them oddly content in each other's presence.

He should have expected this he mused; it had been inevitable in a way.

Even when she'd been with him, every minute, there had been something missing, a part of her he never managed to hold on to.

The part that had always belonged to _him_.

When she'd come to him after her resignation he'd felt hope. For the first time in more than two years he had hoped that there could be something, anything.

A future maybe.

But now, seeing his former boss sleeping in the chair next to her bed, a frown on his face, Chase knew.

And it hurt, surprisingly so because the always existing distance between him and Allison should have prepared him for this.

It still hurt.

* * *

She dreamed she was drowning in ice-cold water, the darkness surrounding her held her hostage.

Images flashed before her eyes, her childhood, the house she had grown up in, the first school she'd visited, her best friend.

The ice seared through her skin like needles and the air escaped her lungs in little bubbles too fast and making her choke.

The last rays of light faded before her eyes and just before she thought she'd loose consciousness a hand reached out to grasp hers.

With a gasp she opened her eyes and stared into deep, icy blue pools.

The hand around hers tightened and if she'd had the strength she would have smiled.

He was there.

* * *

Lisa Cuddy had a lot of secrets.

One of them, some would consider it the greatest, was that she cared.

About House.

She didn't love him, no. That ship had sailed long ago, with one passion-filled night showing both of them that they could never be more.

The sex had been good but that certain connection you needed to make it work, that hadn't been there.

And now, sitting in her office while her sarcastic, pain-killer addicted employee kept watch over his former subordinate she felt, for the first time in years, something akin to hope.

The last few hours had been a turning point, she didn't know the new direction yet but she had the feeling it would be a good one.

She leaned back in her chair and allowed herself a brief moment of silence, a moment of peace and she closed her eyes.

Caring came with worrying but now, with Dr. Cameron in the picture she thought that maybe the good that came with caring would outweigh the bad.

She smiled.

* * *

"You planning on going back to sleep anytime soon?"

His blue eyes had taken on an almost amused expression and she vigorously shook her head.

He was still here, in her room, still holding her hand and she found herself reluctant to let go again.

She feared he would disappear if she did, feared that this was all some fever-induced dream and she would soon wake up in the cold again surrounded only by silence and the blinding white of freshly fallen snow.

So she held on.

Sensing her fear he smiled and lowered his head until his mouth was on one level with her ear.

"I'm not going to disappear."

Hope blossomed in her heart and she closed her eyes, falling back into the dark content to be kept from tumbling over the edge by his warmth seeping through her skin and his presence in her heart.

* * *

He watched as her lids closed and her body visibly relaxed. Soon her breathing evened out and he knew she had fallen asleep again.

She looked like a fallen angel, the white hospital gown and her blond hair a harsh contrast to the bruises that covered her body, every inch already turning into nasty shades of green and blue.

It had almost been too late.

He repeated that in his head over and over again so that every time the little voice in his head that had kept him away from the peacefully resting beauty in front of him would finally shut up.

He wouldn't push her away again.

The feeling in the pit of his stomach when they'd rushed her through the doors of the ER was something he never wanted to feel again.

So he held on.

* * *

The glass doors to her room opened bringing in a rush of fresh air and one department head of oncology.

Wilson's warm brown eyes met House ice blue ones and understanding passed between the two men.

The younger doctor strode over to the room's other chair and wearily slumped down while House tapped a silent melody with his cane.

"Chase was standing outside for at least half an hour."

Wilson's voice cut the deafening silence in the barely lit room.

"I know."

As much as he hated to disturb the two in their little bubble there where a few things that would have to be dealt with and unfortunately Chase was one of them. But now, seeing them, Wilson decided that a few things would have to wait. Neither was in any state to make complicated, emotionally loaded decisions.

So he decided to sit with his friend for a while instead, relishing in the quiet only sometimes disturbed by the steady tapping of House's cane against cold linoleum.

* * *

"I should have seen it."

House's head snapped up upon noticing the other man in the room who now sat on the chair Wilson had occupied earlier that night.

Chase looked up and looked at his former boss and mentor and House could see the pain that lurked in bright green eyes.

"I thought she'd gotten over you, over that crush she had but it seems I was wrong. It was more than just a crush and you seem to reciprocate her feelings so there's not much I can do, is there?"

"Chase I…" House started but for the first time he found himself speechless in front of the younger doctor and he wondered when Robert Chase had grown up without him noticing. If he was honest they all had done that. They'd grown and matured into excellent doctors and then one day he'd been left without a team and the sudden realisation that he'd missed out on something.

But children did that, didn't they? They grew up and by the time their parents finally noticed the little spawns where already gone.

He chuckled internally at the thought of him as father, he definitely didn't think of Cameron as his daughter, nope, no fatherly attachment at all.

That was a whole other can of worms, one he planned on exploring when the woman in question would be a bit more coherent again and preferably a lot more healthy.

Until then he would wait and keep watch and again and again he would reassure himself that she really was here with him instead of lying in the cold while her blood seeped into the ground.

Chase sighed and stood up again a rueful smile on his face.

"Take care of her, House. Make her happy. She deserves that, being happy again."

House nodded in acknowledgement and he younger doctor left the room.

Yep, definitely grown up.

* * *

The day Cameron was finally released came with the first real sunshine in weeks.

If he hadn't been feeling this ridiculously happy, House would have made some snarky comment about the cliché-ness of it all but as it was he was busy wheeling one blonde immunologist through the halls of PPTH.

He bend down until he could whisper into her ear.

"How about a little race to the elevator."

His companion giggled and just when she wanted to answer…

"House!"

High heeled feet on white linoleum followed them and for a moment he was tempted to just ignore her and go on.

The ever- present threat of more clinic hours stopped him.

Damn.

"Yes, mistress Cuddy, I already completed all my hours for the day and I even did my paperwork. Can I please go home now?"

He could see Cameron grinning and Cuddy raised an eyebrow.

"Relax House, I just wanted to see how Dr Cameron was."

"What? Don't you trust your own hospital to take care of one lonely patient on their own?"

Now it was Cuddy's time to grin.

"That's not it. What has me worried is the fact that she is going home with you."

He rolled his eyes and pushed the wheelchair forwards again after Cuddy had said goodbye. The doors opened and the warmth flooding in from the outside made him stop for a moment.

"House?"

Cameron's voice pulled him from his reverie.

"Yes?"

"Don't you want to, you know actually step through the door so that I can finally get up again?"

He grinned ruefully even though she couldn't see it.

"Cameron?"

"Hm?"

"About that race…"

She grinned and he bent down, pressing a kiss to her hair savouring the scent of her shampoo.

"Hold on."

And she did.

* * *

Hope you liked it. And now push the button and tell me what you think, you know you want to ;-)


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